Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 2787

Procedures for instituting an action and effecting service thereof. The court must observe them. Their purpose: regulating litigation and ensuring the right of defence. Filing the statement of claim with the registry is the procedure by which the action is deemed instituted, producing all the effects of a judicial demand. - Service of the statement of claim. Its independence from filing it with the registry. Its purpose. Informing the litigant and achieving the principle of adversarial proceedings between litigants. Failure to achieve it. Its effect. Nullity of the judgment. The implication thereof. The court must, of its own motion, verify the validity of service upon the absent litigant, and may impose sanctions upon the claimant to induce him to pursue his action and serve his opponent. - The second-instance court discovering that the defendant was not served. It must not stop at declaring nullity, but must order the action remitted to the court of first instance for determination on its merits after the litigant has been validly served in accordance with the law. The reason therefor. Observance of the principle of litigation at two levels. Article 135 bis of the Code of Procedure, added by Law 36 of 2002.